Footballs and Dice
by Terrapin44
Summary: As Charlie Brown would soon find out, there always was a bit of luck involved when it came to kicking the old football. (This was made as a prompt for a different website, where I go by a different username. I have decided to submit it here, too. Constructive feedback is welcome.)


"Charlie Brownnnn~"

A chill went down Charlie Brown's back. Those familiar, melodious, sing-song words were the last thing that he wanted to hear on an otherwise beautiful day. He had just gone out for a walk in the park when he heard them. Turning his head towards the voice's source, he saw exactly what he had expected to see: a girl with short, curly, black hair and a blue dress, kneeling in the grass, tossing a football up and down. She was smiling warmly at him, or at least, that was what it looked like to the ordinary passerby, but Charlie Brown knew from past experiences that appearances were deceiving. He knew all too well the direction that this was going.

"Good grief," he said to himself, sighing, then, "Hello, Lucy."

Lucy's smile grew wider as she caught the football in her hands and waved at him. After a couple seconds of silence, she motioned for him to come closer.

Charlie Brown looked down at the ground, a determined look slowly appearing on his face. Although he knew very well the outcome of this interaction, he found he couldn't turn away. He had to do this again. He couldn't let this constant humiliation continue to weigh on his mind. He couldn't let Lucy continue to get the better of him like this. He had to do this, if only for himself. Taking a deep breath, he dusted off his yellow zig-zag shirt and black pants and walked over to where the little girl sat.

"Well, you know how this works, Charlie Brown," Lucy said cheerily as the boy stopped next to her, "I'll hold the football, and you come running up and kick it." She put the football down on the grass and held it vertically in place with her finger.

Charlie Brown crossed his arms and turned away from her. "What you really mean to say is that I'll come running up to you, and just before I kick the football, you'll pull it away and I'll land on my back and kill myself," he said, accusingly.

Lucy was shocked at his words. "Why, Charlie Brown! How can you say such a thing?! I would never do anything like that! How horrid! How cruel!" She sounded as if she was genuinely hurt by his accusation, but Charlie Brown had been deceived by this stunt many times before. He turned back to her and threw his hands up in the air.

"Yes, you would do something like that! You've done this every year!" he said, angrily, "And every year, this ends up the exact same way, with you pulling the ball away! Why in the world would I think that things would be any different, this year? Give me one good reason!"

A pause hung in the air as the two kids stared at each other. Lucy looked down at the grass, her right index finger going up to touch her bottom lip. She appeared to be carefully considering his words. Charlie Brown kept his accusing gaze fixed on her, wondering how she would talk her way out of their predicament, this time. After a few seconds, she let her hand fall to her side and looked back up at him.

"Here's a question for you, Charlie Brown," she said, "Do you remember those board games we used to play when we were younger?"

This seemed such a random question to Charlie Brown that his anger immediately evaporated. It was so far away from what he had expected to hear that he wasn't immediately sure how to respond. "What board games?" he asked, after a few seconds.

"Oh, you must remember," Lucy responded, "You could have up to four players, you started at one end of the board, and it was a race to see who could get to the other side first."

Long-forgotten memories began to surface in the boy's mind as he started to understand what Lucy was talking about. "Did this board game happen to involve dice?" he asked her.

The girl smiled at this question. "Yes," she said, "it did involve dice! Two of them, in fact!"

"That's right, I think I remember, now! We would take turns rolling the dice to move our player pieces, and we would continue like that until one of us reached the end. That's it!" Charlie Brown seemed happy to remember something from so long ago.

"See, I knew you would remember! That's great!" Lucy said happily.

Then, almost immediately, Charlie Brown looked downcast. "I was never any good at that game, now that I think about it. Every time we played, I don't think I ever won, not even once. I think the closest I ever got to winning was this one time: it was just the two of us playing, I was six spaces away from the end and you were three spaces behind me. It was my turn. I had the two dice in my hand and my chances were good to getting the six that I needed, but I only ended up rolling a one and a one. There's a term for that, but I can't remember what it is."

He looked back at Lucy, who seemed to be completely wrapped up in his story.

"And then you got a five and a six and pulled out a victory from behind," he continued, sighing, "I guess I just have bad luck."

Lucy let the football fall over as she got up from where she was kneeling and stood next to her friend.

"Well, think about it this way, Charlie Brown," she said, "How long ago was that? Three to four years ago, at least? I doubt you knew what the word "luck" even meant back then. I mean, I'm surprised you remembered that specific game so well! It's kind of impressive, actually!"

Charlie Brown just stared at her, frowning, and Lucy quickly got the feeling she said something she shouldn't have.

"Look," she continued, "All I mean to say is that this is something that happened a long time ago. Your luck was terrible back then, but who's to say things haven't changed since then? Today, you have the benefit of past experiences, and, with the knowledge you've gained from it, you have the power to try again with a much clearer head than before. And just as you've changed for the better over the years, your luck is bound to change for the better, as well!"

There was another pause as Charlie Brown considered her words. After a few seconds, he looked at her again.

"I see what you're saying," he said, "however, there's something I don't quite understand: We're talking about board games right now. How is kicking a football even remotely related to board games?"

Lucy just stared at Charlie Brown as if he had lost his mind. "How is it NOT related?!" she asked, incredulously, "Kicking a football is just like rolling a dice. You want to kick the football a long way. You want to kick it out of the park. It all depends on how you kick it. And just like rolling a dice, there's also a bit of luck involved, as well. Luck plays into all things in some way, not just board games. I know things haven't worked out so well for you in the past, Charlie Brown, but remember, you've come a long way since then. With everything you've been through up to now, things are bound to be different!"

Charlie Brown's eyes went wide as he suddenly understood what Lucy was trying to say. With that, she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"You luck WILL turn around this time! I can just feel it!" she said, encouragingly, "Roll a six and win it all! I know you can do it!"

Charlie Brown felt newfound confidence and determination in her words. Suddenly, he felt as if he actually could pull this off, after all. He looked at her and smiled.

"You're right! I can do this! I WILL do this! Thank you, Lucy! That was just what I needed!" he said feeling confident. Lucy smiled warmly at his words, then let go of his shoulder and knelt back down in the grass, grabbing the football and setting it into position once more. Charlie Brown turned and walked in the opposite direction, putting some distance between himself and the girl.

"She's right," he said to himself, "I can't stay unlucky forever. Every once in awhile, a person finds that lucky break. It can happen, and it will happen!" Once he was sure he got a good distance away, he stopped. "This time I'm going to kick that football all the way to the edge of the universe!"

Without another thought, he turned back around towards Lucy and focused all his attention on the football. He took a deep breath, then, "TIME TO ROLL A SIX!"

And with that call to arms, he started running back towards his friend. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he closed the distance. Then, as soon as he wound up a kick, he could only watch in horror as Lucy once again pulled the football away from him, a wide smile on her lips. The force of his kick connecting with nothing brought his entire body forward and he realized he was once again sailing through the air.

"AAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" he screamed.

After flying a small distance, gravity grabbed hold of him as the back of his body once again connected roughly with the hard ground, knocking the wind out of him and cutting him off mid-scream. He lay there in the grass, trying to grasp what had just happened as the pain once again could be felt throughout his entire body. After a couple of seconds, Lucy picked up the football, got up from where she was sitting and walked over to him. She looked down at him, staring into his widened eyes. From his perspective, it was as if Lucy was upside-down. Her smile never left her face as she said, without a trace of guilt,

"Snake eyes, Charlie Brown. Snake eyes."

Then she giggled and walked away, leaving the boy where he lay. Upon hearing her words, a look of recollection found its way onto Charlie Brown's face.

"Oh, yeah. THAT was the term I couldn't remember. How about that?" he said to himself. Then he sighed and looked up at the sky, as Lucy's laughter faded into the distance.


End file.
